William Tell. A folk hero of Switzerland.The legend goes as follows: William Tell; who originally came from B黵glen; was known as a strong man; mountain climber; and an expert shot with the crossbow. In his time; the Habsburg emperors of Austria were seeking to dominate Uri. Albrecht (or Hermann) Gessler; the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf; raised a pole in the village's central square; hung his hat on top of it; and demanded that all the townsfolk bow before the hat.On 18 November 1307; Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat; publicly refusing to bow to it; and so was arrested. Gessler devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed; but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son; Walter; in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.But Gessler noticed that Tell had removed two crossbow bolts from his quiver; not one. Before releasing Tell; he asked why. Tell replied that if he had killed his son; he would have used the second bolt on Gessler himself.London; 1829.From: Jean Pierre Claris de Florian; William Tell; or the Patriot of Switzerland; etc.10711. a. 13 First plateLondon; British Library.